Latest Mark Martin Stories
Posted: Nov 21st 2009 6:16 PM ET by Holly Cain (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Mark Martin, Chase for the Sprint Cup, Hendrick Motorsports

HOMESTEAD, Fla. --
Mark Martin winces, then breaks into a grin every time he hears the introduction.
"Ladies and gentlemen ... Mark Martin, who is attempting to become the oldest champion in NASCAR history."
The difference between this week and years ago is that Martin grinned. He's been doing that a lot lately.
Martin trails his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson by 108 points entering Sunday's Ford 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup season finale at Homestead Miami Speedway. Johnson, 34, only needs to finish 25th or better to clinch a historic fourth consecutive title.
Martin, 50, is still looking for his first.
Posted: Nov 20th 2009 8:25 PM ET by Holly Cain (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Chase for the Sprint Cup

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- The hard-core conspirators will think NASCAR scripted it. The reality is
Jimmie Johnson was the fastest driver of the day.
Johnson will start his No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet from the pole position in Sunday's Ford 400 at Homestead Miami Speedway -- the ultimate beginning to the last chapter in his quest to become the first driver to win four consecutive championships.
Of all things Johnson knocked his Hendrick Motorsports teammate -- and only title challenger left --
Mark Martin off the top spot on the qualifying speed chart. Johnson leads Martin by 108 points and needs only to finish 25th or better to clinch his historic championship.
Posted: Nov 19th 2009 6:35 PM ET by Holly Cain (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Chase for the Sprint Cup, Hendrick Motorsports

MIAMI -- NASCAR's Championship Weekend officially kicked off Thursday during a contenders press conference that couldn't have been less like boxing's version of a pre-bout showdown. This was more meet-and-greet than stare-and-glare.
The players here -- three-time defending Sprint Cup champion
Jimmie Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate
Mark Martin -- like each other, so much so it was difficult to remember that they are actually competing against one another.
Johnson gushed about what a great driver Martin is. And Martin humbly insisted he was just happy to be in position to challenge Johnson. And their team owner Rick Hendrick maintained, "I'm just living the dream."
Posted: Nov 14th 2009 10:23 PM ET by Geoffrey Miller (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Chase for the Sprint Cup
The Essentials
Race: Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500
Where: Phoenix Int'l Raceway
Time: Sunday 3:15 PM ET
TV/Radio: ABC, MRN Radio
Twitter: Updates @
FanHouseRacing Forecast: Mostly sunny, High 60s
Distance: 312 laps (312 miles)
Pole Winner: Martin Truex Jr.
2008 Winner: Jimmie Johnson
The Storylines
What makes any NASCAR finish exciting, and any sporting event for that matter, is when the unexpected happens. A last-second shot, a last-second touchdown, an underdog felling a Goliath and even a last lap pass -- yes, even Jimmie Johnson smacking the wall last week at Texas -- all create the unanticipated result that feeds into creating the rush of a sporting event.
Unfortunately, the most recent data we have from Phoenix International Raceway doesn't leave a lot of hope that we'll be seeing the unforeseen Sunday afternoon at the 1-miler.
Posted: Nov 9th 2009 6:24 PM ET by Geoffrey Miller (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Mark Martin, Chase for the Sprint Cup, Sprint Cup
Notes, quotes and a dash of commentary from a NASCAR weekend in Texas.
What a difference a crew chief makes. Kyle Busch, a
Sprint Cup nobody in the last few weeks, rocketed back to his expected form with new team leader Dave Rogers calling the shots Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway. Busch had the dominant car and led 232 of 334 laps before a fuel miscalculation or a blind shot at a win kept him from making history by being the first driver to win three races in one weekend.
And strangely, Busch's old form of letting his crew chief do the post-race talking returned, too.
Posted: Nov 4th 2009 11:14 AM ET by Geoffrey Miller (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Jamie McMurray, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Ryan Newman, Tony Stewart, Talladega Superspeedway, Sprint Cup
Notes, quotes & commentary from a NASCAR weekend at Talladega.
What a weekend it was, huh? Yes, I do have some comments and ideas about the overall product at Talladega this week. I'm going to wait, though, until the end of this post. First, the finer notes on Sunday.
Can anyone make sense of NASCAR's pit road penalties? Had Sunday's race been at another track where track position isn't so easily gained like it is at Talladega,
Jimmie Johnson,
Ryan Newman,
Tony Stewart and eventual race winner
Jamie McMurray would have been downright hosed.
And good or bad as it relates to your particular driver, the rule that nabbed them just isn't fair.
Posted: Nov 1st 2009 11:36 AM ET by Geoffrey Miller (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Talladega Superspeedway, Chase for the Sprint Cup, Sprint Cup
The Essentials
Race: AMP Energy 500
Where: Talladega Superspeedway
Time: Sunday 1:00 p.m. EST
TV/Radio: ABC, MRN Radio
Twitter: Updates @
FanHouseRacing
Forecast: Sunny, High 60s
Distance: 188 laps (500 miles)
Pole Winner: Jimmie Johnson
2008 Winner: Tony Stewart
The Storylines
Consider this as NASCAR's version of laying down the law, but with one problem -- will they actually enforce it?
NASCAR made big noise Sunday morning at Talladega when they told drivers in the pre-race meeting that bump drafting in today's race while racing through the corners would not be permitted. And to back up the rule, they promised to even swipe a victory away if a driver was found to be in violation.
It's a tough rhetoric that we've heard before from NASCAR, but this time it seems like they mean business.
Posted: Oct 25th 2009 8:28 PM ET by Holly Cain (RSS feed)
Filed Under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Chase for the Sprint Cup

Is there another sport that turns on its winners so?
And cheering against the New York Yankees doesn't count.
Another superb run in NASCAR's Chase for the Championship has put
Jimmie Johnson in position for a historic fourth consecutive Sprint Cup title. He's on the verge of accomplishing something Richard Petty, the late Dale Earnhardt, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip and
Jeff Gordon never did.
And for all his hard work and performance under pressure here's the thanks he gets: people are accusing him of stinking up the show.